Cops: Off-duty officer shoots pit bull in West Side alley

An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and wounded a pit bull after it and another dog growled and advanced on him as he was getting out of his car Thursday night on the Near West Side, police said.

The dogs' owner and his family said the dog that was shot about 8:20 p.m. and its sire were able to get out of the yard by pushing on the gate of the family yard in 700 block of South Claremont by the owner's grandson. The officer is a longtime neighbor of the owner's family.

The officer told investigators he was getting out of his car when the two dogs came up and growled at him, said Chicago Police Officer John Mirabelli, a police spokesman. The officer retreated, but the growling continued and the dogs advanced on him, said Mirabelli, citing preliminary reports.

The officer drew his gun and shot one of the dogs, Mirabelli said. Animal Care and Control was called to the scene, but the owner and his daughter said the wounded dog, an 8-month-old named C.Mont and known as Monster, was taken to a private animal hospital where it was euthanized after being shot in the jaw and leg.

The owner, Felipe Rodriguez, said he was in his house when the shooting happened, but said that the dogs--Monster and his father--"were not trained to fight."

Rodriguez's daughter Maria Rodriguez said her nephew had gone to her house for dinner, walking from where he lives with his grandfather on the same block, and the younger dog had apparently pushed open the gate to the back yard. The younger dog got out first, and her nephew told her that Monster was not threatening the officer, Maria Rodriguez said.

It did not appear that the other dog, Weezy, left the yard until after he heard Monster crying, Maria Rodriguez said.

Zonia Borda, who lives across the alley from the Rodriguez family, said that she did not hear the dogs barking before she heard shots Thursday night. She said she looked out to see the officer standing near his back gate, and saw a dog that had been shot and was running toward Felipe Rodriguez's back gate, crying.

"I've been around those dogs--they are around children," and are not dangerous, Borda said.

Felipe Rodriguez was issued citations for having an unrestrained dog, a dog without a license and lacking proof of rabies vaccinations. He was due to appear at a city administrative hearing on Nov. 18, Mirabelli said.

Because the officer shot his weapon, the city's Independent Police Review Authority is investigating.